DUSHANBE (UCAN) -- Tajikistan's small Catholic community is shocked by the news of the violence against Christians in India and is praying for it to end.

Father Ezequiel Ayala offered special prayers during Sunday Masses on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 at St. Joseph Parish in Dushanbe.

The priest told his parishioners about the wave of violence in India that began in the eastern state of Orissa on Aug. 24 after the killing of a prominent Hindu leader. At least 52 people have been killed, most of them Christians, and more 50,000 made homeless. Thousands of Christians have been living in refugee camps or forested areas after their houses and churches were burned.

"I'm sure that most people in Tajikistan don't even know about the persecution in India because nobody talks about it," Father Ayala told UCA News.

"We've been trying to follow the situation in Orissa since August, but on famous news channels such as Euronews or all the Russian channels there wasn't a word about how Christians are suffering in India," he said.

The Argentine Incarnate Word missioner praised Catholic online news services for their extensive coverage.

Being quiet amounts to silent complicity in these murders, he remarked, saying he and his parishioners would do whatever they could to pray or appeal to people to stop the violence.

Parishioners said the events shocked and saddened them.

"Today I will pray for the Christians of India," 20-year-old Ekaterina Gavrilova vowed after Mass on Oct. 5. "I think the Indian government must do something to stop the violence in Orissa," she added.

Another young Catholic, Anushervon Oripov, 21, thinks Christians should start to learn how to protect themselves. "I also will definitely pray for Christians in India and for peace there," he said.

An older parishioner, Larisa Kwiatkovskaya, admitted she was not aware of the situation until Father Ayala explained it, even though she said she watches the TV news every day.

"I was shocked at how defenseless Christians are in India, and I pray the violence will stop as quickly as possible," the 63-year-old teacher said.

Father Carlos Avila, who heads the sui iuris (self-governing) mission in Tajikistan, told UCA News: "We are shocked and terrified by the latest cruel events in the Indian state of Orissa and want to express our solidarity with victims of the violence and their families."

All priests in this Muslim-majority country of 6.5 million people belong to the Argentina-based Institute of the Incarnate Word, to which Pope John Paul II entrusted the care of the Tajikistan mission. Today it counts about 250 registered Catholics.

"Our community is very small and we are so far from Orissa that all we can do is pray and do something to draw society's attention to the bloody events in India, because nobody wants to talk about this," Father Avila said.

"Christians do a huge amount of social work in India as everywhere in the world -- building schools, orphanages, hospitals, and working with the poor," he continued, "but instead of gratitude or at least respect, we only get accusations of proselytism."

The head of the local Church is amazed at how foreign secular mass media are ignoring what he calls the "bloody genocide" against Christians in India. He is not sure whether many channels or news agencies do not see or do not want to see the suffering of Christians in India.

"I saw plenty of reporting about the terrorist attack on a hotel in neighboring Pakistan, but nothing about murders of Christians in India," he said, referring to the recent bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. It gives him the impression that Christian lives are less important than others in modern society, or that a kind of "Christophobia" is at work.

"Why are human rights organizations quiet and not forcing India to protect Christians?" he asked.

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